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Subject: North American AJ Savage
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_AJ_Savage
The North American AJ Savage (later A-2 Savage) was a carrier-based medium
bomber built for the United States Navy by North American Aviation. The aircraft
was designed shortly after World War II to carry atomic bombs and this meant
that the bomber was the heaviest aircraft thus far designed to operate from an
aircraft carrier. It was powered by two piston engines and a turbojet buried in
the rear fuselage. The AJ-1 first became operational in 1950 and several were
based in South Korea during 1953 as a deterrent against the Communists. Of the
140 built, plus three prototypes, 30 were reconnaissance aircraft.
Inflight-refueling equipment was deployed on the Savage in the mid-1950s. The
bomber was replaced by the Douglas A3D Skywarrior beginning in 1957.
At the end of World War II, the U.S. Navy began a design competition on 13
August 1945 for a carrier-based bomber which could carry a 10,000-pound (4,536
kg) bomb that was won by North American Aviation. Later that year, the Navy
decided that it needed to be able to deliver atomic bombs and that the AJ Savage
design would be modified to accommodate the latest Mark 4 nuclear bomb. A
contract for three XAJ-1 prototypes and a static test airframe was awarded on 24
June 1946. The first prototype made its maiden flight two years later on 3 July
1948. That same year the US Navy began an interim capability program employing
the Lockheed P-2 Neptune as its first carrier launched nuclear bomber aircraft
until the Savage was in service, the Neptune launched using JATO assist but
could not land on existing carriers, if launched they had to either ditch at sea
after its mission or land at a friendly airbase.
The AJ-1 was a three-seat, high-wing monoplane with tricycle landing gear. To
facilitate carrier operations, the outer wing panels and the tailfin could be
manually folded. It was fitted with two 2,300-brake-horsepower (1,700 kW) Pratt
& Whitney R-2800-44W Double Wasp piston engines, mounted in nacelles under each
wing with a large turbocharger fitted inside each engine nacelle, and a
4,600-pound-force (20,000 N) Allison J33-A-10 turbojet was fitted in the rear
fuselage. Only intended to be used for takeoff and maximum speed near the
target, the jet was fed by an air inlet on top of the fuselage that was normally
kept closed to reduce drag. To simplify the fuel system, both types of engines
used the same grade of avgas. One 201-US-gallon (760 l; 167 imp gal)
self-sealing fuel tank was housed in the fuselage, and another 508-US-gallon
(1,920 l; 423 imp gal) tank was located in each wing. The aircraft usually
carried 300-US-gallon (1,100 l; 250 imp gal) tip tanks and it could house three
fuel tanks in the bomb bay with a total capacity of 1,640 US gallons (6,200 l;
1,370 imp gal). Other than its 12,000-pound (5,400 kg) bombload, the bomber was
unarmed.
Role
Medium bomber
National origin
United States
Manufacturer
North American Aviation
First flight
3 July 1948
Introduction
1950
Retired
1960
Status
Retired
Primary user
United States Navy
Number built
140, and 3 prototypes
Developed into
North American XA2J Super Savage
When first deployed, the AJ-1 was too large and heavy to be used by any American
aircraft carrier except for the Midway class. The modernized Essex class
carriers with reinforced decks and the very large Forrestal class could also
handle the Savage. The aircraft was not popular aboard ship as "it was so big
and cumbersome that it complicated any other flight operations the ship was
required to conduct." One problem was that the wings had to be folded one at a
time by a crewman on top of the fuselage with a portable hydraulic pump, a
time-consuming process, so that the bomber could be moved out of the way to
allow other aircraft to land or take off. One pilot reported that the AJ-1 was
"a dream to fly and handled like a fighter", when everything was working
properly. The aircraft, however, was not very reliable, possibly because it was
rushed into production before all the bugs could be worked out.
Early in the Savage's career, squadrons would typically deploy a detachment to
Naval Air Station Port Lyautey, Morocco, for service with the Sixth Fleet and
fly the bombers aboard aircraft carriers that were already deployed to the
Mediterranean as needed. The plan was that the Savages would then be loaded with
atomic bombs already aboard the carriers and launched once the carriers were in
the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. The tactic to deliver the bombs was to fly at low
level through Bulgaria and Romania before climbing at maximum power to the
proper altitude to release the bomb. The aircraft would then perform a wingover
maneuver and dive to low altitude, keeping the tail of the aircraft aimed at the
target to avoid serious damage from the shock wave of the explosion.
AJ tankers were used to refuel John Glenn's Vought F8U-1P Crusader during the
Project Bullet transcontinental speed record flight in July 1957; AJ-2s from
VAH-6 on the West Coast and AJ-1s from VAH-11 on the East Coast. Beginning in
1957 the Douglas A3D Skywarrior began to replace the Savages in the VAH
Squadrons. Their refueling role was continued by the formation in January 1958
of VAH-15 on East Coast and VAH-16 on the West Coast. Both squadrons were
equipped with AJ-2s, but both were short-lived and disbanded early the following
year.
Specifications (AJ-1)
General characteristics
Crew: three
Length: 63 ft 1 in (19.2 m)
Wingspan: 71 ft 5 in (21.8 m)
Height: 20 ft 5 in (6.2 m)
Wing area: 836 ft2 (78 m2)
Empty weight: 27,558 lb (12,500 kg)
Loaded weight: 47,000 lb (21,363 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 50,954 lb (23,161 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 471 mph (409 kn, 758 km/h)
Range: 1,731 mi (1,505 nmi, 2,787 km)
Service ceiling: 40,800 ft (12,440 m)
Rate of climb: 2,900 ft/min (14.7 m/s)
Wing loading: 63.2 lb/ft2 (309 kg/m2)
Power/mass (prop): 0.091 hp/lb (150 W/kg)
Thrust/weight (jet): 0.087
Armament
Bombs: 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) of conventional bombs or 1 nuclear bomb
*
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